The ASPB Innovation Prize for Agricultural TechnologyThis prize was inaugurated in 2015 to recognize the outstanding work of industry scientists in companies of all sizes who translate discovery research into real-world outcomes that benefit agriculture. The award additionally acts as a vehicle to increase the awareness of the highest quality science performed by industry scientists, whether or not they are members of the society upon nomination, and showcases the opportunities and rewards of this career path. The Innovation Prize, which is made biennially, is a monetary award that also provides a one-year membership in the Society.

The inaugural 2015 ASPB Innovation Prize for Agricultural Technology is awarded jointly to Sherri Brown, David Fischhoff, Mike Koziel, and Fred Perlak. Their leadership of pioneering research and development teams led to the engineering of commercially viable varieties of cotton and corn that express derivatives of insecticidal proteins from Bacillus thuringiensis. The insect-resistant crops that they developed, and subsequent generations of improved varieties, have had a major impact on crop yields in both developed and developing countries, and they have also had significant environmental benefits by reducing the use of chemical pesticides.

Adolph E. Gude, Jr., Award

This monetary award honors the Gude Family, who made possible the establishment of the Gude Plant Science Center. The award, established by the Society and first given in 1983, is made triennially to a scientist or lay person in recognition of outstanding service to the science of plant biology.

The 2013 winner is...

Natasha RaikhelUniversity of California, Riverside

Natasha Raikhel has made significant scientific contributions to plant biology with her studies in the field of protein trafficking, including fascinating work on the vacuole, cell wall biosynthesis, nuclear import signaling, and lectins. Natasha’s work ranges over the broad areas of plant biochemistry and plant cell biology, and her extraordinary discoveries in these realms have revealed a great deal about plant growth and development. One of her major contributions has been to adapt cutting edge cell biology techniques to the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana Natasha’s visionary Center for Plant Cell Biology (CEPCEB) has provided the perfect atmosphere for innovative science and established a new paradigm for excellence in plant research and training. The center brings together the best faculty from diverse fields, promotes unprecedented interaction, and supports cutting-edge science with the latest technology. CEPCEB is unique in that no other public or private research institute offers this unprecedented combination of people, ideas, and technology to promote breakthrough science. Natasha has made a major impact on the science of plant biology and has given outstanding service to the plant community. She has served on numerous advisory and editorial boards, and she has organized many meetings. Most notably, she was editor-in-chief of Plant Physiology from 2000 to 2005, and her vision and tireless efforts transformed Plant Physiology into a flagship journal in plant biology. She instituted new initiatives, such as Breakthrough Technologies, Special Issues, Updates, and more. By shaping the foci of the journal, she effectively influenced plant research by promoting the incorporation of new concepts and technological advances. She also used the journal to bring key issues that range from the technical to the ethical to the attention of plant biologists, such as gene nomenclature, data release policies, exchanges of information and materials, and ethical standards for publishing. Through these efforts, Natasha has generated lasting impacts on the past, present, and future of plant biology.

Created in 1971 to honor the Society’s founding father and the first editor-in-chief of Plant Physiology, this award is designed to recognize young researchers. It is a monetary award made annually and is given for outstanding investigations in the field of plant biology by a scientist who is under 45 years of age on January 1 of the year of presentation, or who is fewer than 10 years from the granting of the doctoral degree. The recipient is invited to address the Society at the annual meeting the following year.

The 2015 winner is...

Cyril ZipfelThe Sainsbury Laboratory, Norwich United Kingdom

Cyril Zipfel, who heads The Sainsbury Laboratory, is the 2015 recipient of the Charles Albert Shull Award. Cyril played a leading role in the discovery of pattern-triggered immunity in plants, including the characterization of the bacterial peptides flagellin (flg22) and EF-Tu (elf18) as pattern-associated molecular markers that activate signaling by the receptor-like kinases FLS2 and EFR, respectively, leading to plant immunity. He found that the brassinosteroid co-receptor, BAK1, also cooperates with FLS2 and EFR, and he identified residues of BAK1 that are key to specifying co-receptor output toward brassinosteroid signaling, cell death control, or innate immunity. Cyril also made the major practical discovery that transgenic expression of Arabidopsis EFR in Solanaceous species, which normally do not recognize the bacterial ligand EF-Tu, confers immunity to a broad range of bacteria, and he has extended this approach to cereals.

This award was established by an endowment from the Kettering Foundation in 1962 to recognize excellence in the field of photosynthesis. It is a monetary award to be given in even-numbered years to an individual for meritorious work in photosynthesis.

The 2014 winner is...

Susanne von CaemmererAustralian National University

Susanne von Caemmerer co-developed what is arguably the most widely used biochemical model in plant biology – the Farquhar, von Caemmerer and Berry model of C3 photosynthesis. Susanne led reducing the model to practice, first identifying the key physiological measurements and then the new molecular approaches needed to apply the model. Susanne went on to develop an equally widely used model of C4 photosynthesis. She resolved the long debated and critical question of why there is so much Rubisco by showing that under high-light Rubisco exerts very strong metabolic control in both C3 and C4 plants and therefore is not in excess. Most recently Susanne has led the way toward resolving anomalies around the critical issue of mesophyll conductance.

This is the oldest award, established in 1925 at the first annual meeting of the Society through the generosity of Dr. Charles A. Shull. It honors Dr. Charles Reid Barnes, the first professor of plant physiology at the University of Chicago. It is an annual award for meritorious work in plant biology; it provides a life membership in the Society to an individual who is at least sixty years old. Membership is not a requirement for the award, and, if appropriate, every fifth award should be made to an outstanding plant biologist from outside the United States.

The 2015 winner is...

Wendy BossNorth Carolina State University

This year’s Charles Reid Barnes Life Membership Award for lifelong service in plant biology goes to Wendy F. Boss. Wendy is recognized for her trailblazing three decades of work in the particularly challenging fields of phosphoinositide biochemistry and inositol phosphate signaling pathways; for her outstanding roles in education, mentorship, and international outreach; and for her graceful and tireless work for ASPB, in Washington, DC, and around the wider world to promote plant science and to encourage people who are interested or involved in the discipline.

This honor, initially given in 1932, provides life membership and Society publications to distinguished plant biologists from outside the United States. The honor is conferred by election on the annual ballot. The committee selects no more than three (3) candidates, and these are placed on the ballot for approval of corresponding membership by majority vote. The president notifies successful candidates of their election.Election of a corresponding member is to be considered each year, and held if warranted, provided the election will not increase the number of corresponding members beyond two (2) percent of the dues-paying membership.

The 2015 winners are...

Renate ScheibeUniversity of Osnabrueck, Germany

Renate Scheibe is a leading contributor to our understanding of redox regulation in plants, extending from metabolic control to transportable reductant, and to rapid environmental responses by plant cells. As Professor of Biology at the University of Osnabrueck, she has pioneered studies defining the impact of redox regulation on enzymes central to inter-organelle communication, sensing, and signaling in response to environmental cues and stress. Her ground-breaking "malate valve" hypothesis (operated by an NADP-dependent malate dehydrogenase) is now a widely accepted mechanism for controlling export of reducing equivalents from illuminated chloroplasts. Renate quickly followed this early work with her discovery of a contrasting system for malate transfer in the dark (this one NAD-dependent) that is essential for deriving ATP from plastidial glycolysis. These advances led her to focus on redox-dependent processes in the cytoplasm, specifically those that affect the cytoskeleton, the outer mitochondrial membrane, and the nucleus. She remains concurrently active in outreach, teaching, administration, and service to national and international societies, and her efforts have immensely aided the popularization of plants among students and the public. Renate has served as Dean of the Faculty of Biology and Chemistry at the University of Osnabrueck, Director of the Botanical Garden (currently active on the Board), National Delegate and Treasurer for the Federation of the European Societies of Plant Biology, and on the editorial board of Plant Physiology. Renate has also engaged in numerous other ASPB activities since 1979. She continues to make impressive contributions to our collective outreach efforts, as well as to our knowledge of cellular energy metabolism and the redox-poising systems in plant cell compartments in response to environmental cues and stress.
[Photo credit: University of Osnabrueck/Uwe Lewandowski]

Kazuo ShinozakiRIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, Japan

Kazuo Shinozaki is Director of the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science in Japan. He is recognized internationally for his pioneering work on signal transduction in stress responses and plant genome science. In 1986, he elucidated the first complete nucleotide sequence of the chloroplast genome (in tobacco). Later, as a pioneer of plant functional genomics, he collected full length cDNAs, not only from Arabidopsis, but also from various crop, tree, and weed species. He has also provided valuable service in distributing these genomics resources from the RIKEN BioResource Center. Kazuo’s main interest has been in response of higher plants to abiotic stress, 6 including gene expression, cellular signal transduction pathways, and in the molecular process of tolerance using transgenic plants. He and his wife, Kazuko Yamaguchi-Shinozaki, have analyzed gene expression networks that regulate stress responses and have identified many important genes associated with tolerance to various stresses. He has demonstrated the presence of both ABA-independent and ABA-dependent regulatory systems governing drought-inducible gene expression. He also discovered the cis-acting and trans-acting regulatory elements DRE and DREB, which function in ABA-independent gene expression. Importantly, Kazuo applied these discoveries to the molecular breeding of drought-tolerant plants. Two papers on this subject (DREB transcriptional factors and the cis element) are listed among the ten most highly cited papers in The Plant Cell. Kazuo and his colleagues have published 437 papers; he is among the most-cited plant scientists. He has been an ASPB member since 1990 and has been invited many times to the ASPB annual meetings. Kazuo has also been President of the Japanese Society of Plant Physiologists (JSPP) (2010-2011), and in this capacity he has contributed to the Global Plant Council.

This monetary award, established by the Society in 1985 with funds provided by the Monsanto Agricultural Products Company, honors Dr. Dennis R. Hoagland, recipient of the first Hales award, for his outstanding contributions and leadership in plant mineral nutrition. The award, to be made not more frequently than triennially, is for outstanding plant research in support of agriculture.

The 2015 winner is...

Maria HarrisonBoyce Thompson Institute for Plant Science

Maria Harrison has pioneered studies of phosphate acquisition in arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbioses using the model legume Medicago truncatula. In particular, her findings that phosphate transport is linked to maintenance of symbiosis and that plants use classic hormone signaling pathways for regulation of the AM symbiosis have ushered the field of fungal–plant interactions in new directions, and they provide opportunities for the future manipulation of phosphate acquisition in crop species. Maria has identified key gene products required for phosphate transport and uptake, and she has shown that redirected plant protein secretion mechanisms target transporters to symbiotic membranes. Maria has also has developed cell biology resources for in vivo cellular imaging in Medicago that expand research capabilities to further unravel the nutritional function of the AM symbiosis. The Hoagland award is given in recognition of her outstanding contributions to plant mineral nutrition.

The Early Career was instituted by the Society's executive committee in 2005 to recognize outstanding research by scientists at the beginning of their careers. This award is a monetary award made annually for exceptionally creative, independent contributions by a member of the Society who is not more than seven years post-Ph.D. on January 1st of the year of the presentation.

The 2015 winner is...

Daniel ChitwoodDonald Danforth Plant Science Center

The Early Career Award acknowledges outstanding research by a scientist generally not more than seven years post-Ph.D. This year’s Early Career Award recipient is Dr. Daniel Chitwood, who is recognized for his extraordinary contributions to the systems analysis of large, diverse and complex data sets that encompass morphological and molecular traits.The methods that Dan has developed will be of broad applicability to questions related to plant development and beyond.

This award was initiated in 1988 to recognize outstanding teaching, mentoring, and/or educational outreach in plant biology. It is a monetary award to be made annually in recognition of excellence in teaching, leadership in curricular development, or authorship of effective teaching materials in the science of plant biology.

The 2015 winner is...

Stan RouxThe University of Texas at Austin

The 2015 Excellence in Education Award acknowledges the outstanding contributions of Dr. Stanley Roux.During a career spanning more than thirty years, Stan has made a considerable impact at his institution by expanding the curriculum while developing and adopting innovative pedagogical methods. Both in the classroom and in his laboratory, Stan has emphasized meaningful hands-on research for students. The recipient of several past teaching awards, Stan was one of the first to challenge the notion that freshmen cannot conduct “real” research.The results of his efforts have been manifest in the form of peer-reviewed publications with many student coauthors, as well as conference awards and further modeling of this paradigm.Stan has offered innovative courses in the realm of plant biology while mentoring numerous undergraduate and graduate students and participating in various science outreach organizations, thereby making lasting impacts in the field.

The Eric E. Conn Young Investigator Award, first given by the Society in 2011, honors Eric E. Conn's contributions in plant biology by recognizing young scientists who will be inspired to follow in his footsteps. The award recognizes not only outstanding research but also demonstrated excellence in outreach, public service, mentoring, or teaching by plant scientists at the beginning of their careers. This award is a monetary award made biennially for demonstrated commitment by a member of the Society who is not more than five years post-PhD on January 1st of the year of the presentation. It also provides one year membership to the Society.

The 2015 winner is...

Joe LouisThe University of Nebraska at Lincoln

Joe is recognized for his significant contributions to the field of plant–insect interactions, as well as for his demonstrated excellence in outreach, public service, mentoring and teaching.Joe’s research work has shown that specific elicitors delivered by insects are recognized by plants to induce innate defense mechanisms.His research publications are in high-impact journals, and these publications have excellent citation records.Joe has trained and mentored many students from high school through PhD level, and he has taken multiple leadership roles in outreach activities.He has been very active in scientific society activities, and he has organized many symposia at several national and regional meetings.For his significant contributions at different stages of his career, he has received many awards from different organizations.

The Martin Gibbs Medal was instituted by the Society's executive committee in 1993 to honor Martin Gibbs, editor of Plant Physiology from 1963 to 1992. The Gibbs Medal is presented biennially to an individual who has pioneered advances that have served to establish new directions of investigation in the plant sciences. The winner will receive the medal and will be invited to convene a Martin Gibbs Medal Symposium at the annual meeting the following year.

The 2015 winner is...

Craig PikaardHoward Hughes Medical Institute and Indiana University

The Martin Gibbs Medal, established in 1993, honors individuals who pioneered advances that have served to establish new directions of investigation in the plant sciences.Craig is honored for his seminal work and important discoveries in the fields of nucleolar dominance, gene silencing, and the role and function of the atypical polymerases IV and V. Craig will convene the Martin Gibbs Medal Symposium at Plant Biology 2016.

The Robert Rabson Award, first given by the Society in 2012, recognizes Bob Rabson's steadfast advocacy of plant biology through creation of funding programs in the Department of Energy for research in basic energy sciences. The award recognizes postdocs and faculty-level early career scientists, whether or not members of the Society, in academic, government, and corporate research institutions, who have made excellent contributions in the area of bioenergy research. The award, which is made biennially, is a monetary award that also provides a one-year membership in the Society.

The 2014 winner is...

Dominique LoquéLawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

For his exceptional creativity in developing several novel and widely applicable strategies for plant cell wall engineering, Dominique Loque (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California) is the winner of the second Robert Rabson Award. This award recognizes Rabson’s steadfast advocacy for plant biology through the creation of funding programs in the U.S. Department of Energy for research in basic energy sciences.

This award honors the Reverend Stephen Hales for his pioneering work in plant biology published in his 1727 book Vegetable Staticks. It is a monetary award established in 1927 for a scientist, whether or not a member of the Society, who has served the science of plant biology in some noteworthy manner. The award is made annually. The recipient of the award is invited to address the Society on a subject in plant biology at the next annual meeting.

The 2015 winner is...

Bob GoldbergUniversity of California - Los Angeles

Bob Goldberg is well known for his research contributions to plant biology, particularly in the area of reproductive development. He has generated fundamental discoveries that have also resulted in applications in industry, such as the development of the Barnase-Barstar male sterility system together with PGS in Belgium. Bob later served as cofounder and director of Ceres, Inc., a plant biotechnology company. A major contribution to the community was his role as the founding editor-in-chief ofThe Plant Cell. Bob is a leader in educating the public about plant biotechnology.He championed the effort by ASPB to make the documentary film History's Harvest, and he often speaks in public forums to promote science-based discussions about the utility and safety of genetically-modified foods. Bob has received several prizes for his excellent teaching at UCLA.

The ASPB Lawrence Bogorad Award for Excellence in Plant Biology Research was approved by the Society’s executive committee in 2005 to honor Dr. Bogorad’s many contributions to plant biology, including his influential efforts to bring the techniques of molecular biology to bear on problems in plant biology; his groundbreaking research on chloroplast genetics, biogenesis, structure, and function;and his inspired teaching and mentoring. The ASPB Lawrence Bogorad Award for Excellence in Plant Biology Research is a monetary award made biennially to a plant scientist whose work both illuminates the present and suggests paths to enlighten the future.

The 2014 winner is...

Thomas J. GuilfoyleUniversity of Missouri

Thomas J. Guilfoyle has been an inspiring pioneer and innovative leader since the inception of plant molecular biology. He has made fundamental scientific contributions in applying cutting-edge molecular technologies and approaches toward developing invaluable tools and novel concepts that have illuminated new directions of research in plant hormone signaling and propelled discoveries in plant transcriptional regulation, viral replication and auxin biology. In addition to his research achievements, Tom’s dedication, creativity and generosity have greatly inspired a broad spectrum of plant biologists and students across different plant fields from physiology to biochemistry, genetics and molecular biology. His work and vision will continue to provide illumination in current research and stimulate future innovations in plant biology. Accordingly, Tom is the 2014 recipient of the ASPB Lawrence Bogorad Award for Excellence in Plant Biology Research, which honors Dr. Bogorad’s many contributions to plant biology.

This award, made possible by the generosity of Pioneer Hi-Bred International, recognizes and encourages innovative graduate research and innovation in areas of plant biology that relate to important commodity crops. One $22,000 fellowship will be given annually from 2010 through 2013, with an additional $1,000 awarded for the recipient to attend the ASPB annual meeting in the year of their award. Each nominee must attend a U.S.-accredited college or university and must demonstrate interest in the study of plant biology or a related discipline. Each nominee must be a Ph.D. candidate—i.e., have successfully passed their preliminary examinations, must demonstrate an excellent academic record, and must be a member of ASPB. An individual may receive this prize only once. ASPB-Pioneer Hi-Bred Graduate Student Fellowship Committee

The 2013 winner is...

Rachel EggerStanford University, California

Rachel Egger (Stanford University) is the 2013 recipient of this fellowship; she is a PhD student studying maize anther development in Virginia Walbot’s laboratory. Rachel’s dissertation research focuses on understanding the mechanisms that regulate asymmetric cell division, a critical event in anther patterning and pollen formation.

Established in 2007, the Fellow of ASPB award may be granted in recognition of distinguished and long-term contributions to plant biology and service to the Society by current members in areas that include research, education, mentoring, outreach, and professional and public service. Current members of ASPB who have contributed to the Society for at least 10 years are eligible for nomination. Recipients of the Fellow of ASPB honor, which may be granted to no more than 0.2% of the current membership each year, receive a certificate of distinction and a lapel pin.

The ASPB Public Affairs Committee awards the ASPB Leadership in Science Public Service Award annually to recognize individuals who have advanced the mission of ASPB and its members through significant contributions to plant science and public policy leadership. Awardees generally have made contributions to the broader society that are relevant to the work of plant biologists; recipients need not be plant scientists themselves.

The ASPB Leadership in Science Public Service Award recipient is invited to address the Society during the annual meeting held in the year of their award.

The 2015 recipient is...

Senator Amy J. KlobucharUnited States Senate

Sen. Klobuchar is the seniorUnited States SenatorfromMinnesota.She is a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, an affiliate of theDemocratic Party. She is the first woman to be elected as a senator for Minnesota and is one of twenty female senators serving in the113th United States Congress. As a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Amy was part of the Farm Bill conference committee that reached an agreement between the Senate and the House on a long-term Farm Bill in 2014. Further, she was instrumental in securing the federal matching funds for the newly established Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research. Amy also serves on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, which exercises congressional oversight of the National Science Foundation.